Elissa (she/her) has been involved with Shad in some capacity since she attended Shad Carleton in 1998. When asked about her time at Shad, Elissa will speak about it being a truly transformational experience that remains one of the top three pivotal moments in her life to date. Over the years she has stayed connected to not only her campus, but to the greater Shad Canada community in both indirect and direct ways. Before joining Shad’s National Team as the Director of Digital Programs in 2024, Elissa had a vibrant career as an educator: teaching, coaching, and facilitating youth and fellow teachers in mathematics, science, technology, leadership, and design courses. Throughout her career as an educator, Elissa championed students through the Shad application process and contributed to centralized campaigns and outreach efforts. In 2016, Elissa joined the Shad Waterloo team as a Faculty member, and has since taken on leadership roles every year from Teacher Fellow to Program Director at both live-in and virtual Shad campuses.

Being an educator was always a dream of hers, and she loves working with learners to explore and understand all aspects of academia, especially anything related to math! Elissa’s own academic background includes a BSc in Biology with a minors in Gender Studies, Mathematics, and English, as well as a BEd conjoint with a Diploma in Technological Education. And while Elissa would say she thrives in an academic environment, when she’s not immersed in academia you might find her swimming, cross-stitching, skiing, reading a good book, or playing awesome board games with equally awesome people! Speaking of people, what keeps Elissa coming back to Shad each summer boils down to one word: community. The intentionally inclusive community that is built each and every summer, and the people who build it are what Elissa believes makes Shad magical.